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Best Pickup Trucks in 2012

2012's Best Pickup Trucks
Sold in North America:Table and
Chartsby James Bleeker

This page provides the table giving the 2012 Auto
Reliability GPAs and Grades of the best pickup trucks in
2012, a chart of manufacturer shares of the best pickups
in 2012, and a chart depicting the Overall Reliability
GPAs of the top 6 pickups in 2012 and the 15 worst
pickups in 2012.

The Table

The table below provides the Auto Reliability GPAs
and Grades of the best pickup trucks sold in the U.S.

Letter grades for automobile reliability are
determined thusly: A if the Auto Reliability GPA is 3.50
to 4.00, B if the Auto Reliability GPA is 2.50 to 3.49,
C if the Auto Reliability GPA is 1.50 to 2.49, D if the
Auto Reliability GPA is 0.50 to 1.49, and F if the Auto
Reliability GPA < 0.50.

The cutoff for the list of the best pickup trucks in
2012 is an Overall Auto Reliability GPA of 2.75, a
modest B by letter grade. The list is in descending
order of Overall GPA, i.e., from best to worst.

The
Overall Reliability GPAs and Grades of
the Best Pickup Trucks in 2012

ID

Auto Manufacturer

Line/
Brand/
Make/
Marque

Model

Overall Reliability
GPA

Overall Reliability
Grade

No. of Model
Yrs of Data

65

Honda

Honda

Ridgeline

3.75

A

6

35

Toyota

Toyota

Tundra, V8, 4-wheel drive

3.44

B

10

33

Toyota

Toyota

Tacoma, V6, 4-wheel drive

3.13

B

10

34

Toyota

Toyota

Tundra, V8, 2-wheel drive

3.11

B

5

292

Mazda

Mazda

B-Series, 2-wheel drive

3.06

B

8

32

Toyota

Toyota

Tacoma, 4-cylinder, 4-wheel drive

2.78

B

5

Note: To be among the Best of 2012, the
Overall Reliability GPA must be based on at
least 3 model years of data.

Note that among these better vehicles in 2012, there is not one
by General Motors Corporation, the Chrysler Group, or Ford Motor Company.

The manufacturers which have offered one or more of the least trouble
prone vehicles in 2012, as reported by Consumer Reports
subscribers and measured by the Overall Reliability GPA, are Toyota Motor
Corporation (with 4 of the 6 best), Honda Motor Company, and Mazda Motor
Corporation.

Here too, Toyota and Honda dominate the best in 2012.

Chart of Manufacturer Shares of the Best in 2012

Below is a bar graph of the auto manufacturer shares of the 6 best
pickups in 2012

Chart of the Reliability GPAs of the Top 6 and
Bottom 15 Pickup Trucks

The following bar graph depicts the Overall Reliability GPAs of the 6
best pickup trucks and 15 worst pickup trucks in 2012.

Caution

When the number of model years of data
(appearing in the far right column) for a vehicle is limited to more
recent years, the reliability GPAs, Average GPA, and Minimum GPA of
that vehicle may be less reflective of the vehicle's reliability
over a longer period of time.

The method of computation of the GPAs is probably familiar to nearly every college, technical school, and high school student.
A Grade Point of 4.00 (that is, an A) is given to a Consumer Reports Used Car Verdict
of "Much Better Than Average," a GP of 3.00 (that is, a B) is given to a CR
"Better Than Average" rating, a GP of 2.00 (that is, a C) to an "Average"
rating, a GP of 1.00 (that is, a D) to a "Worse Than Average" rating, and a
GP of 0.00 (that is, an F) to a "Much Worse Than Average" rating.
A Grade Point Average (GPA) is then computed for each vehicle age group
0-to-4 years, 2-to-6 years, 4-to-8 years and 6-to-10 years using Microsoft's
Average(a:b,[c:d],...) function. The Overall GPA given in the
table and chart above is the average of the four 4-year GPAs.

This volume of AutoOnInfo.net’s car guide series offers consumers and researchers an historical summary of the reliability and durability of car and truck brands and examines how these brands have fared in their U.S. market shares. It uses 6-year-old model entries in Consumer Reports’ Used Car to Avoid – also termed Vehicles to Avoid and Worst Cars, Year by Year – and CR’s reliability charts to ascribe quality grades to automobile brands for model-year groups 1985 to 1989, 1990 to 1994, 1995 to 1999, 2000 to 2004, 2005 to 2006, and 1985 to 2006. In addition to ascribing quality grades to each brand, it provides a chart that plots the number of the brand’s 6-year-old model entries in CR’s vehicles to avoid. To examine the effect that a brand’s reliability and durability has had on sales, two or more charts depicting the brand’s U.S. market shares for calendar years 1985 to 2009 are given. These grades and charts and the author’s comments impart an historical perspective that sheds light on the present condition of surviving vehicle lines and their future prospects, individual and institutional shortcomings, and what effect these may have on the U.S.

JB

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